). Copyright.]

=Morchella crassipes= (Vent.) Pers. =Edible.=--This species differs from
the two preceding in the fact that the stem is nearly equal in width
with the cap. Figure 218 illustrates a handsome specimen which was 17
cm. high. The granular surface and the folds of the stem show very
distinctly and beautifully. Collected at Ithaca.

=Morchella deliciosa= Fr. =Edible=, has the cap cylindrical or nearly
so. It is longer than the stem, and is usually two or three times as
long as it is broad. The plant is smaller than the preceding, though
large ones may equal in size small ones of those two. The plant is from
4--8 cm. high.

=Morchella semilibera= DC., and =M. bispora= Sor., [_Verpa bohemica_
(Kromb.) Schroet.] occur in this country, and are interesting from the
fact that the cap is bell-shaped, the lower margin being free from the
stem. In the latter species there are only two spores in an ascus.

HELVELLA L.

The helvellas are pretty and attractive plants. They are smaller than
the morels, usually. They have a cap and stem, the cap being very
irregular in shape, often somewhat lobed or saddle-shaped. It is smooth,
or nearly so, at least it is not marked by the large pits present in the
cap of the morel, and this is one of the principal distinguishing
features of the helvellas as compared with the morels. In one species
the thin cap has its lower margin free from the stem. This is =Helvella
crispa= Fr., and it has a white or whitish cap, and a deeply furrowed
stem. It occurs in woods during the summer and autumn, and is known as
the white helvella.

[Illustration: FIGURE 219.--Helvella lacunosa (natural size).
Copyright.]

Another species which has a wide range is the =Helvella lacunosa=, so
called because of the deep longitudinal grooves in the stem. The cap is
thin, but differs from the _H. crispa_ in that the lower margin is
connected with the stem. This species is illustrated in Fig. 219 from
plants collected at Blowing Rock, N. C., during September, 1899.

The genus _Gyromitra_ is very closely related to _Helvella_, and is only
distinguished by the fact that the cap is marked by prominent folds and
convolutions, resembling somewhat the convolutions of the brain. Its
name means _convoluted cap_. The =Gyromitra esculenta= Fr., is from
5--10 cm. high, and the cap from 5--7 cm. broad. While this species has
long been reported as an edible one, and has been employed in many
instances as food with no